Cincinnati,
Ohio, November 26, 2018 – Congratulations to Cincinnati Junior Rowing
Club athletes from Saint Ursula Academy Lauren Sizemore ’19 of Anderson
Township, Jane McGee ’19 of Mt. Lookout, Lauren Fletcher ’20 of Hyde Park, and
Kate McGee ’21 of Mt. Lookout for earning first place with their team at the Head
of the Hooch Regatta in Chattanooga, Tennessee earlier this month. The
rowers, in a crew of eight, competed against 76 teams from across the country,
which makes their first place title quite an accomplishment.All four of these students began rowing
around the beginning of their high school years and maintain a rigorous
year-round training program. The
official season runs from September through June and students compete in indoor
events and conditioning through the winter months.
This is the second year this team has
won the Head of the Hooch Regatta.
Their win last year qualified them to race against teams from as far
away as California during this year’s regatta. The students believe this race
is particularly challenging because of the long 5K distance. Because they won
last year, they were seeded first going into the race, which, the girls
realized, is a slight disadvantage.
“The most
challenging part was that we were seeded to begin racing first, so we were not
able to compare ourselves to other high school girl crews and solely had to go
off if we were moving away from the boats behind us instead of possibly moving
towards boats in front of us,” said Lauren Sizemore. “There are also so many
boats that it is impossible to see everyone in your event race, therefore
you have to go on instinct and be determined to try your hardest every single
stroke.”
Despite this seeming
disadvantage, the rowers felt they had trained hard and were adequately prepared
to finish first for the second year in a row, which they did.
After winter
conditioning, the rowers look forward to competing in April at East Fork Lake
in the Cincinnati High School Invitational.
Saint Ursula Academy is a
Catholic, college-preparatory, secondary school for young women known for
academic excellence and rich tradition. Saint Ursula welcomes students from
more than 90 grade schools in the Greater Cincinnati area. The Academy is recognized by the U.S. Department
of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. The campus, located at 1339 E. McMillan
Street in East Walnut Hills has been the home of Saint Ursula Academy and
Convent since 1910. The Class of 2018 earned college scholarships totaling more
than $21-million.
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